Special days

December has always been a special month for me...

The 21st is my daughter's birthday and 23rd is my hubby's.

This year my daughter turns 13 years old and hubby 42. Actually I was a bit upset to learn about rumors on the Mayan calendar that predicted the doomsday at Dec 21, 2012. Well, I didn't believe it to the slightest, but of all the 365 days of the year, should it be at my daughter's birthday? Hahaha it doesn't matter now, because we survive that one..!

The 22nd is actually the Mother's Day in Indonesia. I rarely post my self picture, but for the sake of the Mom's Day, here's a picture of me, my daughter, and my mom...

Have a nice year-end!
Happy stitching!

Hello again

It's been quite a while since my last post.
Well, my work loads have always been the cruelest at the last two months of the year. And I actually have been occupied with my home renovation for about 6 weeks.

Hubby and I didn't intend to do a big renovation at first. We just needed to fix our ceiling. But then one thing leads to another... We ended up with a long list of things to fix.

And tons of brick, piles of paint, boxes of tile, and lots of packing and unpacking stuffs later...

Our plain pale yellow house...

has a tinge of fresh orange I've been wanting to apply...

I still have tons of stuff to re-manage... but I decide to take a break for a while and finish my two WIPs!

My New Year Exchange Gift 2013 with fellow Indonesian cross-stitchers (I've been doing this exchange for 3 years).

And my untouched Cool Cats, autumn and winter cats, from Margaret Sherry Lovers SAL #3.

Let's sit back and relax... Grab some coffee and stitch stitch stitch...!

Happy holidays!!!

Happy pumpkin

We bought a pumpkin two days ago.
We usually cook them with brown sugar and coconut milk to make dessert.

This time, I only steamed it.
My attempt to reduce sugar consumption.
Its taste is actually not bad.

By the way, we don't really celebrate it but the picture matches the occasion.
So, "Happy Halloween!"
BOO!

A newly found treasure

Last week, my mom gave me one big plastic bag that she said was from my aunt (my dad's older sister) who lives near my mom's house. So I came to my mom's house and picked it up. Inside, there are two boxes and a few books. Then I remembered that my aunt used to do various kind of needleworks many years ago. She has retired from her work as a principal of an elementary school at the moment.

It turned out that the books were old cross stitch pattern books and a few pattern sheets. I think it was from three decades ago. There were three Ondori books I couldn't afford back then.

I opened the first box.
There were several cross stitch and embroidery samplers. I wondered what I could do with these pieces so they wouldn't go to waste...

And few more old charts. I actually had stitched the castle at the right-bottom of this picture too when I was still in senior high school, in collaboration with my mom. We were still using plastic canvas at that time, so we had to stitched everything on the pattern. I remember that I detested the blue sky part because of the never ending use of blue yarn... I am actually pleased with the using of Aida fabric nowadays, so I don't need to do the one-color-background.

Let's move to the second box.
There are various color of DMC flosses.

And wool yarns.

The DMCs still have the old color-tag.

So this is my whole newly found treasure...

I surely hope it will motivate me to start stitching (seriously) again despite my cruel work loads.

Happy stitching!

My treasure (part 2)

Good coffee is a pleasure
Good friendship is a treasure

-Unknown-

And so, after receiving the two Germany mugs, I began to think of what to send Sylke in return. Then I decided to make a cross stitch card to send to her. My choice was My Cup of Tea from CrossStitcher Magazine #229 by Margaret Sherry.

I have stitched this one at the end of 2010 for New Year Cross Stitch Exchange 2011 with fellow Indonesian cross stitchers.

The reason for this choice was because I thought Sylke loves cat & tea :)
Few words written expressing my gratitude, it was ready to fly to Herne, Germany.

Since I knew that Sylke's hubby loves to collect stamps, I decided to send the card by regular snail mail, so I could use my special choice of stamps. Despite the convenient amount of time travel needed, I feel like sending mails via Express Mail Service lessen the fun because of the lack of stamps to be attached...

I hope she will like this super extra special tiny card :)

My treasure (part 1)

Good coffee is a pleasure
Good friendship is a treasure

-Unknown-

I love collecting mugs. Friends, family members, and colleagues are very much aware that I'm a mugholic, so they sometimes give me lovely mugs from their business trip or vacation to add to my collection.

What I didn't expect was having my "virtual" friends to contribute their generosity and effort to it too.

My instagram friend, Sylke Uhlig, sent me a big package filled with sweets, chocolates, and of course 2 Starbucks city mugs to fill my crowded cabinet, all the way from Herne, Germany. She kindly offered me the mugs after seeing me posting several picture of my morning coffee using my collection mug on instagram.

I was dancing with joy when the postman decided to drop by that day. But my heart skipped a beat to the sound of clanking glass. And what I feared the most was happening in front my eyes, the mugs were broken!

But then she decided to send me another pair as a replacement. I kindly refused the idea but she insisted to do it anyway.

A few weeks more waiting, the same postman delivered the mugs wrapped in two separate packagings. And I didn't have a chance to explain about it to answer his confusion as to why I kept receiving stuffs from abroad. I just shrugged and prepared myself in anticipation.

She cutely attached some pocket tissues as a "buoy" on each mug, afraid of getting them broken again.

So, here came my new mugs! Safe and sound! But the most important thing is a great memory of our mugs adventure. I surely will treasure it for the rest of my life.

Pink ribbon October

October is the Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

My mom is actually one of the breast cancer survivors. She had her surgery back in 2002. After a series of chemotherapy and 5 years hormone-therapy by consuming Tamoxifen, she was declared clean from cancer in 2008. She only has to do a yearly cancer blood test afterwards. Thus, I was given a warning on this matter. I should do an early detection.

P.S. This Hard Rock Cafe pin was bought by my hubby on his Bali trip with his high school friends a few days ago.

202 years and counting

Today is my hometown 202nd anniversary.

I hope Bandung will get better through time. Most of all, a better mass transportation system. So we don't have to stumble upon a frustrating & unpredictable traffic jam which currently become our daily routine.

Give us back our beautiful Parijs van Java (Paris of Java)!

Pixie parcel for a friend

Dream. Believe. And make it happen.
-Agnes Monica- (Indonesian young & talented singer)

So, unfortunately one of our Summer Exchange participants, Francesca from Italy, didn't receive the exchange package nor a notification about it from the supposed sender. So, Nia & several fellow stitchers decided to send her surprise little packages to make it up. I'd love to participate because it'd be fun and kind of thoughtful. We called the surprise packages attack as Pixie Parcels to the Rescue.. (cute... ^^)

Since I didn't have much spare time to stitch lately, I decided to make a tiny piece of a bookmark. So it didn't take too long to finish. The butterfly design is from 80+ Cross-Stitch Kind Thoughts book by Kooler Design Studio. And I added butterfly wooden-buttons into the package. (I think I'm kind of match-freak, aren't I?)
I sent the package at the end of August.

So, there went my package all the way to Florence, Italy. And 2 days ago I received an e-mail from Francesca which informed me that the package has arrived at her door.
Glad she liked it!

I'm glad to take part in this and very grateful to get to know friends from all over the world.

Happy stitching, friends!

Summer Exchange

A very very very late post of my Summer Exchange with fellow crossstitchers/bloggers of Margaret Sherry Lovers group blog.

I should send the package to Lu from Brazil, and supposed to receive one from Judith from Germany.


So I made a Margaret Sherry piece Love Bugs and stitched it into a polkadot red string bag.

I also stitched these bookmarks, one with the ladybug to match the Love Bug pattern and one with a saying and colorful pattern.

Added three kind of ladybug buttons and three different color of flosses, there went my Bag of Summer.

Last touch, a personal note on a postcard and I sent it to Lu.

And this is the package I received from Judith.
A personally written postcard, a red striped ribbon, a butterfly wooden clip, a wooden hanging ornament and a lovely hanging ornament of an adorable Margaret Sherry cat. It made my day when it arrived at my door.

The cat is the Margaret Sherry's Picture Purr-fect design if I'm not mistaken.

I'm very glad I took part in this exchange. It's been a great experience.... Looking forward to another exchange!

Happy stitching, friends!

Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri

It's been a hectic period during Ramadhan month and Eid ul-Fitr...

Now, I'm back from Eid ul-Fitr short break...

And I remember that I haven't posted my Summer Exchange here on my blog. *sigh*
I have a lot of catching up to make...

August, be good to me

August already....

Welcoming Ramadhan

It's the first day of Ramadhan.

I will be fasting for the next 1 month.
Insha Allah (if Allah wills).

Summer Cat

I finally finished stitching my cat #2 last night! *anotherhappydance*

Well, I'm a bit behind schedule but I enjoyed every stitch... *grin*
This is the kind of deadlines I love, stitching-deadline.. A non-work-related kind of deadline...

I can't wait to stitch my fave one, the autumn cat !!!

Hello July

Half year have passed...
Evaluation, contemplation, re-motivation...

Summer exchange update

Hello....
The deadline of the Margaret Sherry Lover's blog Summer Exchange was due several days ago... Well, as predicted, loads of work got in the way... I was a little bit behind and was so sad and sorry....

But I've managed to finish it earlier today!!! But, since I wasn't supposed to post what I'll send to Lu, here's a behind the scene picture of my working table at home...

As soon as Lu receive the package, I'll reveal what inside the package is.

Friendship is a treasure

I received this cute little cup last week. It was from Ms. Lela Thomas & Mr. Randall Hayward -my hubby's colleagues- of Taksu Kirana (a restaurant & spa in Ubud, Bali).

Friends, family members, and colleagues are very much aware that I'm a mugholic, they sent me lovely mugs to add to my collection. I'm very grateful for having them...

Maybe I should start writing & posting the story behind each mug I got.... LOL

Spice up your life

I have been doing the same daily routine lately. Especially since I have no maid to help me around the house. Mornings mean more commotions. Breakfast, e-mails, laundry, .xls spreadsheets, kids homeworks, coffee, etc. Same routine everyday, but in random order.


So, breaking out from my (our) routine, last weekend I decided to have an outdoor breakfast.

No fancy food though, just steamed rice with veggies soup, chicken curry, and fried tofu. Typical Indonesian breakfast.

It was fun, indeed. I'm just too lazy to set the table up. But I will definitely do this again next weekend. An attemp to spice up my daily boring common life...


And by the way, due to those morning chaoses, I forgot to post my finished Soda!

Tracking back through my photo albums, I found out that I started this piece at May 8, 2011. And I finished stitching it at May 16, 2012. Wow, I truly am a procrastinator... Should improve my stitching record in the future :)

Welcoming June

June, already?

Gonna find my crafting bug...

I'll be right back..!

Cross stitch forever, housework whenever

I love weekends. Less chaos, less commotions.

I love peaceful mornings of the weekend. No kids fighting over who gets to bathe first, no need to check out kids not forgetting to bring their homeworks or projects, no need to prepare kids' lunch boxes in such a hurry...

And the best thing is, I can pamper myself with a "real" morning coffee instead of an instant one... With sugar and lots of cream...

By the way, earlier this week I have decided to join the Margaret Sherry Lovers' Summer Exchange... Not sure what I'll make though, so I wish myself luck...

Now, let's forget housework this weekend. I'll need to finish my Soda piece and start my 2nd cat of Cool Cats SAL.

This is a preview of my unfinished & abandoned Soda piece, the Cafe Mocha.

Here is my prepared materials for Summer Cat.

I wish you all a pleasant weekend!